Streaming, streaming, and more streaming. While major tech giants and media conglomerates continue to debate who’s going to take ownership of Warner Bros. Discovery, and as awards season reminds us just how strong the theatrical year has been, premium television isn’t slowing down one bit. This week, there are standout releases across three different platforms, so you’re going to need to juggle a few apps to get the full experience. Let’s dive in.
The Rip on Netflix
The Rip reunites lifelong friends and Academy Award–winning collaborators Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. From Good Will Hunting to Dogma early on and then Air and The Last Duel, the two have a creative shorthand that feels effortless. Here, they lean fully into their action-star personas — after all, one was Jason Bourne and the other was Batman.
Affleck and Damon play members of a Tactical Narcotics Team tasked with recovering dirty money. But when a massive sum is uncovered during a job, the mission turns inward. Loyalties are questioned. Morality gets tested. And the question becomes: how far does temptation push even the best-intentioned people?
Early reactions have been strong, and if you’ve followed Ben and Matt’s careers over the years, The Rip feels like comfort food with an edge — familiar, satisfying, and just dangerous enough to keep you locked in. The Rip is streaming this week on Netflix.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, on Paramount+
Paramount+ continues celebrating 60 years of Star Trek with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. The series stars Academy Award winner Holly Hunter and Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti, who finally gets his wish of playing a Klingon — an idea he first floated publicly while promoting The Holdovers. The creators took him up on it, and the result is one of the most intriguing performances in the franchise’s recent history.
Hunter leads the series as the captain overseeing the next generation of Starfleet cadets, returning the franchise to its roots at the Academy — the same proving ground where legends like Kirk and Spock first began. The show strikes that classic Star Trek balance: thoughtful, serious science fiction paired with just enough camp and optimism to make it feel timeless.
I had the chance to speak with both Paul Giamatti and Holly Hunter about joining the Star Trek universe, and their enthusiasm for the material comes through on screen. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy begins streaming this week on Paramount+.
Hijack on Apple TV
Apple TV brings back Hijack for Season Two. Idris Elba returns in the tense thriller that turns high-altitude suspense into a pressure cooker of moral decisions and split-second choices. Season One proved that Hijack could sustain nonstop tension across an entire flight, and Season Two raises the stakes by expanding the scope while keeping that same claustrophobic intensity.
I caught up with creator, co-executive producer, and director Jim Field Smith, who talked about the challenge of topping the first season while staying true to what made the show work — character-driven tension, real consequences, and momentum that never lets up.
Hijack Season Two is streaming this week on Apple TV.
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.